The Hex Factor
by TheForgottenHistory
Summary: Dumbledore has a magic moment and brings a talent competition to Hogwarts. Will be Draco/Harry. Pretty much ignores the books. SLASH will contain swearing and maybe a lil bit of violence. Who knows where this will go...
1. Chapter 1

The Hex Factor 2011

By TheForbiddenHistories

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…

Summary: Due to being housebound at night with my amazing wee son I have been watching the X Factor, and also X Factor USA. This fic stems from imagining my fave characters in that situation and a lot of sleepless nights due to my sons incessant teething. So yeah, I decided to let Dumbledore have a crazy moment and bring the Hex Factor (clever innit?) to Hogwarts. This fic has pretty much nothing in common with the stories created by JK other than the characters and locations, lol. So ignore what you read in the books.

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><p>Harry was running. Surrounded by trees, with only the dim light of a waning moon shining through the thick canopy overhead, he tried not to trip over the undergrowth and fallen branches as he ran for his life. All he could think about was how and where to find the last Horcruxes as he leapt over a half rotted fallen tree. As he felt a hand grab his foot he gasped and prepared to hit the ground . . . And woke up with a bump on the floor next to his bed, a foot caught up in his duvet.<p>

Rubbing his eyes he glanced at his watch and groaned as he realised he had only one more hour till he had to be up. As he untangled his foot and climbed back into bed, he had only one thought. What the hell is a Horcrux?

Now, you might be wondering why Harry had no sense of panic or fear over his dream. Surely he wouldn't just go back to sleep? Maybe he would even don his magical cloak and attempt to see Dumbledore, or at least Hermione. Well truth is he had no reason to be afraid. Voldemort was dead. Freak accident involving a bungee jumper and lax health and safety regulations. Voldemort was in the wrong place in the wrong time and got squished by a fat tourist. No one is entirely sure why the Lord of all that is Evil was at Blackpool Pleasure Beach but the general consensus was that he was up to general Bad Things. Anyway, the Death Eaters scattered and were gradually rounded up and sent to Azkaban. No more deaths ensued, apart from natural causes and accidents of course, and there was definitely no convoluted and tedious missions involving Horcruxes. Ever. So Harry continued his education with his friends, and moved in with his godfather Sirius, who happened to be dating Harry's DADA professor Remus Lupin. Snape continued to bear a grudge, however seeing as though Harry got on with most of Slytherin, and was even friends with Draco Malfoy, he stopped picking on him so much due to lack of an appreciative audience. Which brings us back to the present (just pretend it does if you have to or the rambling will continue).

So, the next morning, Harry woke with a new found love for life and after getting dressed he bounced down the stairs to the common room. Where he bounced right into a human wall. Adjusting his glasses, which had been jolted during the collision with a brunette 6th year, he looked in the direction the crowd was staring. Thinking he might as well use his status for something he started pushing to the head of the crowd where he found the common room notice board. Attached was a big black poster with the words HEX FACTOR written in big red letters. HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE NEXT BIG STAR? AUDITION FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN AN EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT was written underneath in smaller red letters. Harry frowned and turned to the person next to him, which was Seamus grinning like a loon, luckily enough.

"What the hell's this about then?" he asked grumpily. After all, he could be sitting down to breakfast now, not staring at a baffling stupid poster. "I can only assume it's based on the muggle talent show the X Factor. It's for singers, you audition and go through different rounds. The ultimate winner gets a recording contract. You should enter Harry, I've heard you in the shower, you're not bad", he grinned. Harry sniggered, "I don't think they're interested in what I do in the shower." Seamus sighed and rolled his eyes, "It's a good job you're pretty Harry", he shook his head as he slipped away into the crowd.

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><p>AN - so thats the first chapter, the next chapters will be a hell of a lot longer I promise, just realised how short this actually is! I have no idea where this is going but I'm rolling with it. I have an idea for judges already, and also for who will be in the competition. I just need to figure out songs. This wont be a songfic by the way, of course songs will be mentioned and there may be snippets but I really can't be arsed looking for lyrics and typing them up all the time. I kinda wish I hadn't chosen this to be my first fic on here, lol. Oh well, it won't leave me alone so I'll hope for the best. Please, please, please review, it would mean the world to me. Thanks for taking the time to read this :)


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…

Summary: Due to being housebound at night with my amazing wee son I have been watching the X Factor, and also X Factor USA. This fic stems from imagining my fave characters in that situation and a lot of sleepless nights due to my sons incessant teething. So yeah, I decided Dumbledore having a crazy moment and bring the Hex Factor (clever innit?) to Hogwarts.

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><p>When Harry finally made it down to breakfast, the Great Hall was buzzing with the sound of excited voices. On the Hufflepuff table there had begun an impromptu sing-a-long, the song of choice being Build Me Up Buttercup, with the word buttercup being replaced by the word Hufflepuff. Needless to say, the Slytherins began pelting them with bits of buttered toast, bacon and whatever else they could reach, whilst sneering uncontrollably.<p>

The Ravenclaws quietly discussed the chances of gaining extra credit for taking part, apart from Luna who seemed to be attempting to knit some sort of net out of noodles. Where she had obtained noodles at this time of day Harry had no idea, however when Luna caught him staring she merely grinned and winked before turning back to her task.

Sitting himself down between Ron and Ginny he began piling his plate with bacon, eggs and toast. Around him his fellow Gryffindors were discussing the upcoming event. He could hear Lavender harping on about her beautiful voice which would surely win the competition. Unfortunately, Harry knew she had a good chance. As much as he'd like her to sound like a cat in a grinder when she sang, she was actually quite talented. If only she weren't such a bitch whore sent from Satan to steal young men's virtue.

Hermione was in deep discussion with Ginny, probably trying to convince her to audition, Harry knew from spending Christmas with the Weasley's and singing Christmas songs around the fire, that she had a nice sultry sort of voice. He hoped she would enter, if only to give Lavender a run for her money. Although he supposed he would have to support her if she got through. House pride and all that sort of shite.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dumbledore stand up and start tapping the side of his glass with a spoon, looking faintly surprised when the spoon suddenly broke the glass. Coughing to try and hide his embarrassment, he addressed his suddenly quiet students.

"Girls and boys", he started with a slightly patronising tone that Harry hated, "As you have noticed, we are holding a special contest this year. A contest not of magic or strength, but of music!" he cried as he spread his arms wide.

The students continued to stare at him, unsure if they should be clapping or something. Dumbledore coughed again and lowered his arms slowly, "Well, anyway, Auditions will be held on Saturday in two weeks time. Anyone wanting to audition will be required to sign their names on the sheet provided in your common rooms. There will be four judges who will not be revealed until audition day". The students immediately began whispering amongst each other once more as they discussed who the judges would likely be.

Dumbledore shushed them again, "May I also remind you to be on your best behaviour, as this competition will be broadcast on the Wizarding Wireless, and there will also be journalists on hand to report on this event. Thank you."

Harry immediately returned to his food, not really caring about the competition as he had no intention of entering. He hated being in the limelight, and now Voldemort was gone he had no reason not to settle down and enjoy his final year at school. Ron's elbow in his side interrupted his thoughts and unfortunately caused him to choke slightly on his toast. Turning to face him, glaring as he coughed, Ron flinched, noting the hint of retribution in those green eyes.

"Sorry Harry mate, I just wanted to ask if you're going to audition. We've all heard you in the shower, you're pretty damn good."

Harry rolled his eyes, "No Ron, I'm just having a quiet year this year, besides, people would probably vote for me because I'm the Boy Who Lived to Sing or some bollocks", he muttered, "Anyway, why's everyone listening to me in the bloody shower?"

Ron shrugged, "It's not like we're perving", he glanced at Seamus, "Well not all of us anyway, we just like to hear you sing."

Seamus piped up further along the table, "Yeah Harry, I hope you're auditioning, it'd be a damn waste of a talent, not to mention sexy ass body if you don't." Harry flushed and chucked his remaining toast at him, although the evil look Lavender was giving him almost tempted him to give in.

A snicker nearby caused him to look up and he noticed Draco Malfoy had ventured near the Gryffindor table on his way out of the Hall.

"What's wrong Potter, afraid you'll lose? Maybe embarrass yourself in front on the whole Wizarding world and they'll finally see what a loser you really are?" he sneered.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Do us all a favour Malfoy and fuck off and die."

Draco glared at him and Harry couldn't help but notice a moment of hurt cross his face before he steeled himself again.

"Washed up heroes and mud bloods first, please, I insist", he spat back, "Never mind, you'll just have to sit back and enjoy the show while we Slytherins win."

With a last parting sneer, he whirled and stormed out the Hall. Or at least tried to before his robes tripped him up. Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors snickered as the Slytherin blushed and attempted to regain some dignity as he finally made it to the door. With a final glare he shoved the doors open and disappeared.

Immediately the Gryffindors turned on Harry, "Come on mate, you have to audition, the miserable little twat pretty much challenged you, you can't back down now!"

"Yeah", agreed Seamus, "Show the wee bastard what you're made of. You can beat his skinny white arse any day!"

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands, finally having enough he stood up. "All right!" he cried, "I'll think about it okay?" And with that he snatched up a bacon roll and fled the Hall.

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><p>AN - sorry it's so short again, I worked my ass off to get this out tonight, hindered of course by the fact my 11mth old son has been restless all night because of the fireworks, and eventually decided enough was enough at around 10pm and screamed till I got him up. I've been trying to find different students from the different houses for the actual competition. I think I have it all sorted now so it should be relatively easy going now as long as my son stays asleep during the night so I can actually write. Anyway, hope you enjoy. And please, please review so I know if I'm actually doing okay. I'd like to thank **dreamerx** for being my first ever reviewer and giving me the confidence to continue :D


	3. Chapter 3

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…

Summary: Due to being housebound at night with my amazing wee son I have been watching the X Factor, and also X Factor USA. This fic stems from imagining my fave characters in that situation and a lot of sleepless nights due to my sons incessant teething. So yeah, I decided Dumbledore having a crazy moment and bring the Hex Factor (clever innit?) to Hogwarts.

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><p>For the rest of the day, Harry was bombarded with notes during lessons asking him to audition, begging him to, even promising all sorts of earthly delights to audition. It wasn't until Potions that he finally had enough, and after seeing Malfoy smirk at him once again, making Harry wonder if he had some sort of facial tic, he stood up and slammed his inkwell on the desk.<p>

"Okay! I'll audition, stop bloody bothering me okay?" he yelled. He stood there breathing heavily, one of his eyes twitching, until he noticed Snape loom out of the darkness looking as if all his Christmases had come at once.

"Mister Potter, seeing as though you can't seem contain your egotistical outbursts for the length of a lesson, you have earned yourself detention for a week", he turned his back on him and began walking to his desk, ignoring the muttering in the class, "50 points will also be taken from Gryffindor, now sit down before I make it more." Harry huffed and turned red from anger, viciously elbowing Ron as he sat down for his part in passing on the notes. Needless to say the other Gryffindors didn't speak a word of what had happened, and indeed kept their distance for the remainder of the day, not wanting Harry to extract revenge on them. After all, they still remembered the last Hufflepuff who tried to take a picture of him in the locker rooms. Mind you it was hard to forget seeing as though he was _still_ sporting pink rabbit ears and a very fluffy tail.

Before long, the entire castle was alive with the sound of music. Students could be found in unused classrooms all over the castle, and for once they weren't doing the usual hormone induced activities. Well, a few were, but they were soon pushed out by some diva who needed to practice their scales. At first it was novel hearing so much music and Harry enjoyed it, even singing along sometimes much to the pleasure of his fans. However by the end of the week it was simply annoying, and if he heard one more student murdering his favourite songs they wouldn't be able to sit for a week.

It was on one of his jaunts to the furthest reaches of the castle, the only places he knew would afford him some peace and quiet, that he stumbled across the one person he wished he hadn't.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked grumpily as soon as he spotted him. Malfoy sneered. _Seriously, what is with his face? _Harry wondered.

"Trying to avoid miserable little bastards like you", the blonde replied. Now Harry was used to being called a bastard, he was also used to being called miserable, however being called little was something he just did not tolerate.

"Listen dick head, if you dare to call me little again I'll…well…I'm not entirely sure, however it will be bad! Very, very bad!"

Draco snorted, "Whatever Potty, I'm sure the big bad Gryffindor could come up with some terrifying punishment, maybe set a puppy on me to lick me to death yes?"

Harry stepped closer, his eyes glowing with irritation, "Or maybe I'll just lick you..to..death..myself?" he trailed off with a squeak.

Draco blushed, "What the fuck are you talking about Potter?"

Laughing nervously he mumbled a reply, "I don't have a clue Malfoy, just be told yeah? Any more shit from you and you'll be sorry!"

"Sure Potter, I'm terrified of the prospect of you licking me. In fact I'm trembling in my oh so fine, and oh so expensive one of a kind boots. Oh please, please don't lick me almighty villainous bad ass", he chuckled as he turned away, "See you around idiot."

Harry stared at his retreating back, wondering where it had all gone so wrong, "Hey! Don't call me an idiot!" he shouted after him, "Stupid, posh, lickable twat", he muttered. His eyes widened as his mind caught up with his mouth. _Nooooooo, I did not say lickable! I said kickable! _He groaned as he knew he didn't believe his own lie. _Damn it, I am an idiot._

The next weekend came round far too quickly for Harry. All day Saturday there was plenty of activity as the Great Hall was set up to accommodate a huge stage, complete with judges table situated in front of it. Magical spotlights were set up to shine down on the stage and the judges table, and magically acceptable microphones were tested by various stage crew. Excited students crowded round the doors of the Great Hall hoping for a glimpse of the set-up, Filch threatening them with detention and being strung up by their thumbs for getting in the way.

Due to the activities within the Hall, meals were served in the common rooms, buffet style. It was novel, however Harry thought he would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the constant bloody singing, the practicing of scales and impromptu harmonising. This weekend could not be over quick enough for Harry, and he solemnly swore to get hold of a Justin Bieber CD as soon as he could and tear it to shreds with his teeth.

He had chosen his song and practiced it for a half hour a couple of days ago and then pursued more interesting things. After all, he wasn't really bothered about the whole contest, he was merely getting people off his back. He didn't give a crap if he didn't go through. He'd try his best of course, like a Gryffindor should, however he wasn't going to turn into, _shudder, _Lavender.

Unfortunately the girls in his house weren't so blasé about the whole thing and he ended up being dragged up to his dorm where he endured hours of trying on outfits and being stared at like a lab rat. Man he wished he were a lab rat. At least he could run through cool mazes and eat cheese. Sighing he shooed the girls out while he got dressed, grimacing at himself in the mirror, wondering when the hell they had managed to out eye liner on him. Not that he was complaining too much, he thought he looked pretty awesome with it on, but that was beside the point dammit.

As he fastened the last buttons on his shirt and stepped into his trainers, stumbling slightly until they were on properly, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was sure to be an embarrassing evening.

Ron and Hermione were standing next to an excited looking Ginny as he came down the stairs. He shuffled up to them, not daring to look Ron in the eye. Unfortunately he noticed anyway and let out a roaring laugh.

"They got to you too did they? Thought they might", he sniggered.

Harry looked up sharply, "Who else did they get?" he asked curiously as he searched the common room. Ron nodded his head to the far side of the room and Harry felt slightly happier when he glimpsed a mortified looking Dennis Creevey along with a couple of other guys he didn't know.

Harry laughed and straightened up, "As long as I'm not the only one it's fine", he grinned, "Shall we?" he asked as he made a sweeping bow in the direction of the door. Ginny grinned back at him, "We shall!" she exclaimed leading the way. Ron and Hermione followed close behind, the red head muttering something about loony diva's.

As the entered the Great Hall they gasped in amazement, "It looks just like it does on TV", whispered Hermione in an awe struck voice.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her, "You mean you actually watch that drivel and then have the cheek to nag me about reading Quidditch books instead of 'Educational Texts', Hermione you hypocritical wee bint!"

Hermione blushed, "Hey, we all deserve a guilty pleasure Harry, and don't call me a bint, unless you want everyone knowing what yours is!"

Harry spluttered, "I don't have a guilty pleasure", he stopped to think for a minute, "No, I don't. Ha! I call your bluff!"

Hermione snorted, "Just because you don't realise what it is doesn't mean you don't have it. I may clue you in some time, for now I think you're meant to be heading backstage." Harry turned to see various professors rounding up students to go backstage, he braced himself and headed in the same direction with Ginny.

"Are you nervous Harry?" she whispered as she clung to his arm.

Harry swallowed hard, "Erm, no, no of course not, it's just a small singing competition right? Nothing to be afraid of." At that moment the one and only Draco Malfoy walked by.

"Aaw, Golden Balls and the little Weaselette are feeling the pressure? What a pity, guess it'll be a win for Slytherin after all." A horrific cackle accompanied his departure, followed by a quiet coughing fit as he rounded a corner. Harry and Ginny merely shrugged and continued on their path.

After informing the stage crew of their song choices they were given numbers and told where to sit until their number was called.

Harry peeked from behind the stage and gulped at the sight of the hall filling up with students, and also various members of the press. Rita Skeeter was sat near the front, eagerness obvious on her face, quill already out and waiting. Harry slipped back quietly, regretting giving in so easily to peer pressure. Kicking the large metal trunk that Ginny was seated upon he cursed as pain shot through his foot.

Ginny smirked, "Idiot, what've I told you about kicking things…and punching things", she added a moment later when he punched the wall beside him in anger and yelped in pain.

Harry turned and glared at her, "Would you rather I kick you instead?" he asked, "Because I bloody will!"

Ginny slowly turned to face him, her face devoid of emotion, "Harry Potter", she said in a low tone, "If you kicked me you'd wish you were never born, living with so many brothers has given me a wealth of spells at my disposable, now stop complaining and have some bloody fun you big tit."

Harry muttered and sat down on the trunk next to her before beaming at her with a huge manic grin.

"Better?" he asked through the gruesome grin.

Ginny laughed, "No, go back to sulking you miserable git."

The lights suddenly dimmed and a lively tune started up. Ginny squealed with excitement, "Ooooh, it's starting Harry!"

They and the rest of the students back stage rushed to the cracks in the back drops and peered through to see who the presenter was and the all important judges. A tall dark gentleman in dress robes with a winning smile spread across his face, the kind you see and have a bad feeling you're about to sell your soul to the devil for a donkey with three wooden legs.

"Ladies and Gentlemen", he grinned, "Welcome to the 1st singing competition of it's kind, THE HEX FACTOOOOOOOR!" The audience cheered and clapped, sounding deafening to Harry who was still regretting his hasty decision. He turned his attention away from his butterfly stomach and back to the presenter who was about to reveal the judges. A spotlight swung onto the backdrop as the man spoke. "And now here they are, your judges for this competition", he said as he motioned to the back of the stage, "The lovely Katy Heedry, manager of the Wizard Wailers and the lovable Hogwarts Professor Remus Lupin", Harry grinned as the shy quiet man walked on stage with a small smile and a glint in his eye that Harry knew meant someone was going to get it in the jugular very soon. The presenter continued, "And also, the singing sensation that is Helena May, and esteemed Hogwarts Professor Severus Snape!"

Harry groaned as his snarky Potions professor literally glided across the stage, his face battling with the sneer that wanted to show itself. He could hear the other students backstage muttering to themselves, and the audience booing quietly, after all they had been told to be on their best behaviour. However they could not quietly accept Snape being a judge on a singing competition, they were just glad Professor Lupin was there to balance things out. Looking around backstage he could see a familiar blonde laughing with his fellow Slytherin hopefuls. As if he could sense Harry's gaze he turned round and stuck his tongue out before giving him the finger. Harry being the mature and dignified student he was merely mouthed the words 'fuck you dick head', along with appropriate actions. Ginny snorted beside him, and put her hand up for a high five which Harry happily returned.

"And now", continued the presenter, "Lets have our first hopeful!"

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><p>AN - Sorry about taking so long to update, my son has been ill and all my spare energy has been devoted to making him better and trying to entertain him. I think I have nearly every nursery rhyme nailed now, complete with actions and/or dance. Anyway, his temp is back down now and he's definitely up to more mischief, hence this update. Sorry it's still short as well, I will be posting longer chapters as soon as I get more time to sit down and write.

Anyway, thanks again to **dreamerx** for your review, if I only had enough money to bribe my friends I'd have a soundtrack on youtube within a week, lol.

Thanks also to those who have favourited this story or put it on alert, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D

Please review if you can, make sure I'm on the right track. Oh and sorry if I upset any Bieber fans out there...I think... XD


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…

Summary: Due to being housebound at night with my amazing wee son I have been watching the X Factor, and also X Factor USA. This fic stems from imagining my fave characters in that situation and a lot of sleepless nights due to my sons incessant teething. So yeah, I decided Dumbledore having a crazy moment and bring the Hex Factor (clever innit?) to Hogwarts.

A/N - I must sincerely apologise for how long I've left this. My son has been ill with a throat infection, didn't eat for a week and kept me up most nights, and my husband has recently been a huge tool. I haven't really had the right state of mind to write, which is really bloody annoying. Not exactly up to scratch at the moment, I could not get my head round the best way to do this at all, but I wanted to at least put something out there. I'll probably come back and redo it at some point if you guys really think it sucks :-/ Anyway, thanks for your patience.

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><p>As the first student walked on stage to a chorus of clapping and cheers, a 4th year Hufflepuff by the name of Laura Madley, Harry felt his stomach tie itself in knots. As the young brunette started her song, a surprisingly good rendition of a Shakira song, Underneath Your Clothes, who knew Hufflepuffs even thought of that sort of thing, Harry peeked out to look at the judges. He noticed they all seemed to be enjoying themselves, apart from Snape, obviously. Harry wondered again why the hell he had agreed to take part in such a competition, unless he was literally bullied into it by Dumbledore. Hell, he could imagine it being some sort of twisted bet between his Godfather Sirius and Snape, it sounded like the kind of thing Sirius would taunt the man with.<p>

As the crowd started to clap and cheer at the end of the song Harry leapt back taken by surprise. Only to creep forward again when the host started to speak.

"So there was our first audition, lets go to the judges, Professor Remus let's start with you."

Harry noticed a faint blush appear on the professors cheeks and smiled to himself, "Well, I think it was a lovely job, very nice indeed, erm, it's a yes?" he trailed off.

The audience clapped as the host met the eyes of Helena May, the singer.

"I think it was wonderful, good tone, you hit the notes perfectly, and it was quite a daring song choice. A definite yes!"

The audience cheered once more, Katy Heedry concurred enthusiastically, "Absolutely, yes from me!"

As Snape straightened in his seat the audience held their breath, "Well, I don't approve of the song choice, I thought it quite dull in fact", the audience started booing quietly, "Never the less", he continued raising his voice, "It's a reluctant yes".

The audience cheered again as the young Hufflepuff beamed and ran backstage. The other contestants congratulated her, and assured her she had in fact done a fab job despite what the snarky old potions professor said, after all, what does he know about music, especially muggle music.

Dumbledore had in fact made it compulsory to sing only muggle songs throughout the competition in an attempt to educate the Wizarding community on the fact that muggle's were pretty much the same as them, and improve muggle relations throughout. After all there were some wizards out there who still thought they roamed in packs, were vicious drunken animal types and slept in caves. Although if they had walked through Manchester on a Friday night you could see where they might have gotten the idea. Harry still didn't understand how Draco Malfoy and half the Slytherins even knew muggle's made music, never mind knowing the words to any of the songs.

The contest carried on and Harry found himself feeling more and more nervous as his number got closer and closer to being called out. He sat through terrible auditions such as Pansy Parkinson attempting and killing a Pink song, how she managed to replicate the sound of a cat being put through a blender he had no idea, and Susan Bones of all people singing and dancing to Buttons by the Pussycat Dolls, he shuddered as he remembered the what he supposed were meant to be smouldering looks she threw Professor the look on the snarky bastards face were enough to get him through it. He thought at one point that he would actually get up and leave, not that anyone would miss him. At least the other judges said no nicely, Snape seemed to embrace the opportunity to be cruel to the students. What was it he had said to the poor 4th year Raven Claw, Orla someone? Oh yes, 'the ability of a 2-toed sloth that had been buried in a swamp for 15 years, then dug up, beaten with a large stick and handed a magical microphone'. The poor girl had run off stage in tears, followed quickly by a couple of her friends calling after her. Harry could only imagine what the potions professor would have in store for himself. He was happy to see the other judges glaring at him every time he opened his mouth however, and the fact that the entire audience booed him every time he said something horrible.

His attention was grabbed, quite literally, by Ginny who tugged his arm viciously, "Harry I've been called", she whispered, her face white.

Harry gathered her into his arms, "You'll be great Ginny, I believe in you, you're amazing okay?", he stepped back and pushed her towards the stage, " Go, knock 'em dead, especially Snape the bastard", he grinned. As he watched his friend walk on stage he couldn't help cross his fingers and hope she did as well as he knew she could.

A single chord sounded before his friend started singing in a mellow, slightly haunting voice.

"_I know I can't take one more step towards you,_

'_cause all that's waiting is regret,_

_And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore,_

_You lost the love I loved the most…"_

As the song drew towards the chorus, Harry watched as Ginny started to slowly cross to the front of the stage. Wands glowed in the dark as students began to cast Lumos and sway from side to side as she sang, and Harry felt nothing but love and pride for her. As the song came to it's climax he watched as the female judges shed a slight tear and he grinned, knowing she would be sure to go through to the next round.

All the judges had nothing but wonderful things to say about her, even Snape was obviously moved as his comment of "Acceptable, you can go through", muttered between gritted teeth showed. As Ginny ran off the stage beaming from ear to ear Harry caught her up in a hug.

"I told you it would be fine", he grinned, "You were brilliant Gin."

Ginny flicked her hair over her shoulder and winked, "Of course, we Gryffindors know how to rock it, right?" she giggled.

There celebrations were cut short as they heard an acoustic guitar start up, and they found their place backstage again to see who was next. Harry was shocked to see Draco Malfoy sitting on a high stool strumming a shiny black acoustic guitar like a pro. As his rival started to sing he felt a shiver begin to work it's way through his body and he felt the blood rush to his face as he blushed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ginny staring slack-jawed.

His voice was smooth with a slightly raw edge, and the way he handled his guitar made Harry squirm inside for some reason. Shaking himself mentally, and physically to make sure, he concentrated on the lyrics, blushing even more when he heard them.

"_I don't know who you think you are,_

_but I know that one thing's true,_

_I wanna do bad things with you."_

And all of a sudden Harry knew it was true, for reasons beyond his mere mortal fathoming, he wanted very much so to do bad things with Malfoy. As he stared, he could have sworn the blonde turned and winked at him as he sang the final line, making the nervous butterfly madness he was feeling in his stomach ten times worse. Luckily for him, after the judges all said yes to him and Snape actually gave him a compliment, of course, bloody Slytherin loving bastard, Draco exited the stage on the other side. Sagging in relief he heard Ginny muttering darkly about stupid blonde Slytherins trying to steal her thunder.

After several other auditions, many more compliments and a plethora of increasingly ridiculous put downs by Snape.

After Seamus was physically dragged off stage half way through his rendition of "The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered", a humorous song pretty much offering an opinion on every kind of bestiality to be had.

After a confusing appearance by Dobby performing some sort of Spice Girls mash up that Harry tried to instantly forget.

Finally it was time for Harry to go on. Ginny squeezed his hand tight and smiled as she nudged him towards the stage. As he looked back at her, face pale, he saw Draco make his way to the side to watch, that ever present smirk on his face. Glaring at him he turned back to the audience and groaned inwardly as he saw the Wizarding press immediately start to take pictures. After he introduced himself and stated his song choice, rolling his eyes as several girls squealed loudly and Snape glared at him, he bowed his head and nodded along to the roaring guitar intro waiting for his cue.

"_I will dedicate, and sacrifice my every thing,_

_for just a seconds worth of how my story's ending, _

_And I wish I could know the directions that I take, _

_and all the choices that I make, won't end up all for nothing._

_Show me what it's for, make me understand it, _

_I've been crawling in the dark, looking for the answer. _

_Is there something more, than what I've been handed, _

_I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer."_

As he got into the song he forgot the audience watching him and concentrated on how good it felt to sing. Through the next verse and chorus he let himself go and realised he was actually enjoying himself. During the brief instrumental period he danced enthusiastically across the stage and stuck his tongue out at Draco and grinned before continuing with the song. When the song finished he was grinning broadly, sweat shining on his face, breathing hard as he faced the judges, not really caring what they had to say. The crowd was cheering wildly and he caught Ron and Hermione's eyes and winked.

The host came and clapped a hand on his back, grimacing slightly, no doubt at the slight dampness of Harry's shirt.

"Well, that was young Harry Potter, I'm sure everyone knows who he is, let's see what the judges have to say. Lets start with you Remus." Harry grinned at his Professor and friend.

"Amazing Harry, just amazing", he grinned, "Where in the name of Merlin have you been hiding that talent. A definite yes!"

Harry mouthed his thank you at him.

Helena May straightened her robes and looked up at him, " I think, Harry, you may have just earned yourself a few more fans", she grinned, "I hope you're prepared for what's next, it's a yes from me too."

Next up was Katy Heedry who replied with a simple grin and a very loud yes. Harry's smile slipped as he met the icy glare of Snape.

"Yes, well, without getting caught up in the obvious favouritism and idol worship I suppose it was acceptable. Very well, it's a reluctant yes, you'd better work a bit harder if you want to stand a chance however", he sneered, looking as if he would like nothing more than hex him on the spot.

Harry stood open mouthed as the audience booed Snape, only moving when the host started nudging him off stage. As soon as he stepped backstage he found himself with an armful of Ginny, and he hugged her happily.

"That was awesome Harry, I'm glad you decided to audition", she smiled.

Harry couldn't agree more, "Yeah well, let's just see what happens next yeah?" he hugged her once more, looking up to find Draco glaring at them from a distance. As their eyes met Draco blushed softly and turned away quickly, leaving Harry confused. And wondering when the hell he started referring to him as Draco in his head.

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><p>Songs mentioned - Underneath Your Clothes - Shakira (Laura Madley)<p>

Raise Your Glass - Pink (Pansy)

Buttons - Pussycat Dolls (Susan Bones)

Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri (Ginny)

Bad Things - Jace Everett (Draco)

The Hedgehog Can Never be Buggered - Mentioned several times in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, found some very interesting lyrics to it on You Tube by some hardcore Pratchett fans. BTW Pratchett is my Hero XD (Seamus)

Spice Girls Medley - I just thought it would be assuming to see Dobby dancing and singing to various Spice Girl songs o_O

Crawling in the Dark - Hoobastank (Harry )

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><p>AN - Just to say sorry for the wait once again, and please leave a review. If you have any suggestions for improvement I'd love to hear them as I'm really not happy with this chapter. I may be posting a small one-shot in the near future just to try and get myself out of my writing rut so watch this space O_O

Crap, nearly forgot, a big thank you to those who have reviewed, and those who are following this story's progress. We'll get through it together, lol XD


	5. Chapter 5

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…

Summary: Due to being housebound at night with my amazing wee son I have been watching the X Factor, and also X Factor USA. This fic stems from imagining my fave characters in that situation and a lot of sleepless nights due to my sons incessant teething. So yeah, I decided Dumbledore having a crazy moment and bring the Hex Factor (clever innit?) to Hogwarts.

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><p>AN - I am so, so, so sorry for leaving it this long without an update. I was ill for about a week and then my son was ill for about two weeks, went off his food and everything. Was really worried for a while. Didn't do too much for my writing I can tell you that. Anyway, he's back to normal apart from normal teething stuff and the fact he had jabs today, 3 to be exact poor lil bugger. Apparently reactions to this one is delayed so if he does react it'll be Xmas Eve pretty much, lovely. There will hopefully be another chapter before Xmas, although I am scheduled to work the next three nights and night time is the only time I can really write. So hopefully God willing it will be done. Sorry about the chapter being so short too, I will definitely make it up to you guys somehow! Love to all and just in case a Merry Christmas!

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><p>Harry gritted his teeth as once more a gang of giggling girls passed by his table, and he wished once more that he had never sung in the stupid competition. Of course he had known in the back of his mind that it would only encourage this type of stupid hormonal behaviour, indeed it had been one of the things that had stopped him from entering at first. And yes, fair enough he had enjoyed himself at the time, but now he was simply annoyed at the fact that he couldn't go anywhere without eyelashes being batted in his direction accompanied by girlish tittering and squealing. He had thought that the library would be a safe haven due to the tyrannical reign of Madam Pince, however she had also seemed to have fallen under his spell, ha ha, and didn't seem inclined to jump to his rescue.<p>

If things weren't bad enough, Draco bloody Malfoy seemed to sense his annoyance and appear constantly wherever he went. At this moment in time he was sat two tables away in deep conversation with Blaise and Pansy, however he did seem to spare some time now and then to smirk over at Harry whenever a gaggle of girls swept past trying to catch his eye. The last time this had happened Harry had merely rolled his eyes at his nemesis and concentrated on not breaking his quill in half.

A small ginger blur suddenly swept through the doors of the library and settled down with a small thump in the seat next to him. He set down his quill and gave a final glare to the milling fan girls before turning to face his visitor.

"Ginny, I will give you all the gold in my fault if you will only turn back time and tell me not to enter that stupid competition", he muttered, one eye twitching fiercely. Ginny laughed at him, she actually had the cheek to laugh at him!

"Oh Harry, most guys in your position would give their right ball to be in your position, what is wrong with you?"

Harry glared at her, "Okay, for a start don't laugh at me, I'm deadly serious, and secondly there is nothing wrong with me", he glanced furtively around and lowered his voice, "I just might be a little bit gay", he whispered.

"Sqquuuuueeeeeeaaaaallllll", replied Ginny in a high pitch, forcing Harry to quickly slam a hand across her mouth and mouth an apology in the crusty librarians direction. He didn't fail to notice the nearby Slytherins sit up and take note either, Draco looking as if he wished he was an animagus just so he could listen into the conversation.

"Ginny!" he reprimanded in a harsh tone, "What the hell?"

Ginny blushed slightly and looked apologetic, "Sorry Harry, but that's sooooo cute! Who do you have an eye on then?" she whispered back. Harry's gaze involuntarily flicked to Draco and he internally cursed as Ginny glanced in the same direction.

"No freaking way Harry, that's just too yummy to be true", she grinned, a maniacal calculating glint in her eye. Harry groaned and let his head fall forward onto the desk with a loud thunk. His day could not possibly get any worse.

For the next two days, Harry had to sit through various scenarios Ginny cooked up in her evil little mind in which Harry professed his love and apparently went off to have delicious smutty man sex in whatever nearby room was available at the time. Worryingly some of these fantasies of Ginny's crept into his subconscious and he woke up with a strong desire to break into the Slytherin common room and have his wicked way with the wicked blond therein. It was only on the Friday that Harry remembered the whole singing competition thing, and as his fellow students began to get more and more excited throughout the day, he could only feel himself grow more apprehensive over what may occur that evening.

Having to sit through dinner with Ginny muttering smutty things into his ear on one side, Draco sneaking weird confusing looks at him on the other side of the hall and damn Dumbledore doing his weird eye twinkling thing at the Head table made Harry wish more and more that there was still a mad, obsessed evil wizard out to get him. At least he would no for certain who his enemy was. As dinner came to a close and the dishes disappeared, Harry rolled his eyes as he saw Dumbledore rise to his feet and clear his throat. This probably wouldn't be good.

"Girls and boys, it is my great pleasure to tell you about the next part of the competition, The Hex Factor", he glanced around the room cheerily until the whispers and murmurings had died down. "This next round is known as…" he consulted a piece of parchment in his hand, "…ah yes, Bootcamp!"

Harry heard Hermione snigger beside him and he turned in askance. Hermione merely smiled at him and patted his hand gently before turning her attention back to Dumbledore. Harry sighed inwardly as he did the same.

"Now", the old wizard continued, "This means that all the contestants who made it through the auditions will be required to spend the weekend completing certain tasks in order to pass through to the main shows. There will be a live show both tomorrow night and Sunday night, judged by our lovely panel. On Sunday nights show the contestants through to live shows will be announced."

As Ginny squealed with excitement, Harry groaned and buried his head in his arms, barely noticing the comforting pat on his arm as Dumbledore continued, "The tasks will include a group performance and another solo performance, but not to worry, separate dorm rooms are being provided so you can rehearse when needed without worrying about intruding on the rest of the school. Furthermore there will be allocated study times to ensure your homework is completed for next week", Harry rolled his eyes, "So, will all the contestants who made it through to the next round please stay seated while the rest of you return to your Houses, thank you."

Harry stared at the table top in annoyance as his friends patted him on the back and wished him luck as they departed. Ginny however was grinning from ear to ear, practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. As the last of the students left, none other than Severus Snape stood and addressed the remaining few.

"Now I expect this to be done in an orderly fashion, with no arguments and no questions", he drawled, "When I call your name, proceed to the relevant group. The groups are as follows…" Harry barely paid attention until Ginny elbowed him and motioned towards a small group to the left of the Head table.

Shuffling his way forward he barely looked at the people gathered until he heard a snarky voice muttering. Not believing his bad luck he slowly turned to meet the steely grey eyes of his recent obsession. Draco sodding Malfoy.

"Oh great", he muttered rolling his eyes once more. Draco seemed to take offence at this and proceeded to accidentally kick him in the shin. Unfortunately the next person to join their group was the fiery little red head, his nuisance of a friend, Ginny.

She took one look at their annoyed faces and smirked, "Come now boys, you were getting on so well before this competition was announced, why don't you just kiss and make up?" she asked putting a hand on both their shoulders and pushing them gently towards each other. Draco immediately shrugged off her hand, Harry having the urge to do the same.

"Can it Red, I'm not having him win one over on me again", Draco snarled.

Harry smirked, "Face it Draco, when it comes to me and you I will always win", he turned to Ginny, "Stop it Gin, we will always be rivals when there is something to win, you can't change that!"

Ginny folded her arms in a stern manner, "Well tough shit guys, we are a group for the moment, and we need to work together so we get through. So no more sniping at each other. So help me if you make me lose I will have both your heads, do you understand me?"

Harry and Draco looked at each other and gulped, "So", said Harry in an overly bright voice as he extended a hand, "Friends again?" Draco sighed heavily and took the proffered hand, "Fine, whatever", he grumbled.

Ginny tutted and moved her hands to her hips, "I believe I said kiss and make up", she hissed. The boys turned to each other and paled in horror, well aware that the rest of the groups were making there way to the new dorms and the rest of their group were staring wide eyed at them, some smirking.

Swallowing hard, Harry swiftly leant in and pecked Draco on the turned to Draco and raised an eyebrow expectantly. Draco quickly followed suit and blushing furiously bent to kiss Harry on the cheek as quickly as he dared. Seemingly satisfied Ginny spun and began marching out of the hall, the rest of their group smiling as they followed her, leaving two embarrassed boys in their wake. Harry indicated to Draco to go first, and after briefly touching his cheek where he still felt soft lips touching, he followed with a small smile and a noticeable spring in his step.

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><p>Please, please R&amp;R, I really wasn't sure about this chapter but I knew I had to get something out before people started to think I'd either died or abandoned it. I will never abandon this fic, but there may be gaps between updating, having a one year old takes up way more of more of my time than you'd think.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Rating: M to be on the safe side, will be bad language and knowing me a lot of slashy goodness

Warning: this will most definitely be slash, but will hopefully also contain humour, or at least my version of humour. Anyway, if you don't like serious lovin' between two guys then this is not for you. May also contain het, not sure exactly where this is going yet :-/

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I just use them to do stuff my original characters won't let me do. Neither do I own the X Factor, thank god as it's really starting to suck now, not that it was that fab to begin with…I also don't own the song used. The song and artist are listed in the A/N at the end.

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><p>Harry followed his group through the winding corridors, keeping up as they traversed an unfamiliar staircase, and finally came to a stop before a portrait of a dozen Pixies frolicking in a woodland scene. It was not missed by Harry that many of them were making rude and obscene hand gestures to the group, despite seeming perfectly innocent at first glance.<p>

The portrait opened to reveal a fairly decent sized common room, complete with a piano standing in one corner with a pile of sheet music piled on top. While the others were taking in the room and testing how comfy the chairs were, Ginny raced to the sheet music, desperate to know what song they would be singing. As she reached out to take them, a hand quickly snatched them from her grasp and Ginny turned to do battle, rolling her eyes when she realised it was Lavender.

"I was just about to read those", she pointed out.

Lavender didn't even raise her head, merely muttering a quiet "Whatever", before turning a page. Harry noticed the exchange and rushed to Ginny's side, hoping to stop any potential fighting. A hand on his wrist however pulled him slightly away and he looked at the person who had stopped him in confusion before glaring, "Draco, why have you stopped me?" he snapped.

Draco released his wrist with a smirk, "Let them fight, it'll be bloody amusing if you ask me."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Well, no one is asking you, so bugger off. Or do you want to lose the competition just so you can see two girls fight?"

Draco frowned, "You have a point."

Spinning round he grabbed Ginny by the wrist and pulled her alongside Harry, "Listen here Red, don't start beating up the diva over something like this, grin and bear it, I don't want to lose just because you have a volatile temper."

Harry cringed as he watched Ginny's face slowly turn bright red, "Who do you think you are Draco? I'll do what I damn well want, and I do NOT have a volatile temper!" she screamed in his face before stomping up to Lavender and snatching the music out of her hands.

Draco stood open mouthed, face even paler than usual, blinking as Ginny's words echoed in his ears. Taking pity on him, Harry led him over to the sofa by the fire, smiling gratefully at a Ravenclaw called Kevin who handed him a glass of water. Draco was eventually persuaded to drink it, and slowly some colour came back to his face. Blinking suddenly he turned to Harry in horror, "I thought she was going to _eat _me!"

Harry stared for a moment before bursting into laughter, rolling around on the floor clutching his stomach. Draco glared, "When you're quite done rolling around on the floor like a rabid mongrel Potter, we should probably rejoin the group."

Harry sighed heavily as he brushed away a tear, chuckles sporadically bursting from his mouth as he raised a hand toward Draco.

"Help a guy up?" he asked hopefully.

Draco grinned, "Of course", he replied grasping the proffered hand and pulling him up slightly before letting him fall back onto the floor with a sneer, "Not."

He stalked away muttering about imbecile Gryffindors and their foolish ways. Harry sulked for a moment before climbing to his feet and settling down with the rest of the group.

Ginny was talking to the circle, ignoring the glares Lavender was sending her way and the nervous glances the rest of the group were sending between the two girls.

"So, I think we should go round the circle introducing ourselves, you know, name, year, house, hobbies that sort of thing. It will help us mesh as a group", she grinned. Everyone nodded in agreement, some looking quite shy, "So who would like to go first?" she asked pleasantly.

Of course Lavender at this point burst in before anybody else could speak, "Ooh, I'll go first, I'm sure some of you are just dying to know about me. I am probably the most talented one here after all."

The group, as one, rolled their eyes at her and let her carry on, knowing once she had finished they could go back to ignoring her again.

She stood up and smoothed down her clothes and flicking her hair over her shoulder before speaking, "Well, as you probably know, my name is Lavender and I'm a seventh year Gryffindor. And obviously, I'm the one who will be leading our group to victory this weekend. You're welcome", she finished with a big smarmy grin plastered across her face.

The group stared in stony faced silence until Ginny cleared her throat, "Anyway, I'm Ginny, I'm a sixth year Gryffindor, I love to sing and I also play guitar", she smiled looking at the girl next to her to continue.

The small brunette smiled shyly at the rest of them, and Harry remembered being impressed that such a strong, soulful voice had come out of someone so small. "Hi, my name is Laura Madley, I'm a 4th year Hufflepuff and other than singing I enjoy fishing with my Grandpa in the Summer".

Next was a Ravenclaw Harry had spoken to once or twice, "My names Kevin, seventh year Ravenclaw, I have a fondness for muggle motorbikes", he finished with a crooked grin.

Then there was Draco, who of course introduced himself in his usual sneering tone, "Draco Malfoy, Pureblood, seventh year Slytherin, I also play the guitar but I also enjoy painting."

Harry glanced at him and smirked, "Bloody puff", he muttered. Draco appeared to ignore him, however Harry was delighted to see a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. He was interrupted quite rudely from his musings by Ginny. "Oy, Harry, stop ogling Draco and get on with it."

Harry flushed and glared at her as the rest of the group giggled and Draco preened beside him. "Harry Potter, as I'm sure you all bloody know", he started grumpily, "seventh year Gryffindor, erm, I enjoy Quidditch and beating Malfoy at everything" he finished smugly.

A hand came from Draco's direction and shoved him off his seat viciously, thus ending the small getting to know you group.

Ginny held up the music sheets to the rest of the group and waved them, "This is the song they have chosen for us to do tomorrow night", she said as she passed them round.

Harry eagerly grabbed his copy and scanned the title, groaning when he realised he didn't know the song that well. As Ginny continued to distribute the sheets, purposefully avoiding Lavender and leaving her till last, Draco wandered up to him. "I take it you're not familiar with this particular song then", he murmured as he continued looking at the sheet.

Harry shook his head, "Not really", he muttered, "God help me if I drag the group down, what with Ginny and Lav and, well, you I suppose, I doubt I'd make it out of the castle alive."

Draco sniggered, "You're more afraid of Red than me and the Harpy anyway."

Harry grinned at Lavenders nickname, watching as she stalked Ginny across the room fuming that she hadn't had her sheet yet.

"Hmm, well I know your bark is worse than your bite Draco", he murmured, not paying much attention to what he was saying until a soft voice purred into his ear. "Mmm, there you go again thinking of me biting you." Harry shivered at the warm air ghosting over his ear, "Piss off Malfoy, you know what I meant."

Draco stood back a step and pouted, "It was Draco a minute ago. Anyway, I know this song quite well, I'll help you out."

Harry spun and stared in disbelief, "Really?" he asked, "You're not going to make me do it all wrong just to embarrass me?"

Draco stared back at him, "Yeah, of course I am", he replied rolling his eyes, "I just told you I don't want to get kicked off, if I make you screw up it'll only reflect badly on us as a group."

He laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked him in the eye, "I'm honestly trying to help you for once Harry, will you let me?"

Harry felt his face slowly turn pink and cursed himself for having an inner Hufflepuff, he didn't even want to contemplate the warm fuzziness in his stomach or the sneaky, downright dirty thoughts flitting through his mind at the feel of the warm hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, Draco", was the only response he could bring to mind. Draco didn't seem to mind however, he smiled at him and then headed off towards the boys bedroom. Harry, after giving both his body and mind a stern telling off, followed him. After all, Ginny would probably wake the whole group at some ungodly hour to start rehearsals. Slipping into the room he was just in time to watch Draco pull on a t-shirt and climb into bed. Harry undressed before also pulling on a t shirt and climbing into bed. As he closed his eyes, he tried to forget the smooth pale skin he had glimpsed, and the curious feeling it had given him.

The next morning, if you could call it that as it was still quite dark outside, was started by a small ginger blur bouncing on his bed and screeching in his ear. A pillow hit him in the face as he sat up and he groaned while collapsing back on his bed again.

"Sorry Potter, I was aiming for the screeching harpy", Draco called across the room, "Where in the name of Merlin's underpants is the snooze button on that thing?" Harry attempted sitting up again and was pleased when the ginger blur moved and he was able to put his glasses on.

"Morning Ginny", he mumbled, "Thanks for the wake up call, now kindly bugger off before you make Malfoy cry."

Ginny smirked at the outraged protest that came behind her, "Just get yourself and the others up and meet us in the common room in 30 minutes", she said as she opened the door, turning back she grinned widely, "Any later and I'll come in here and drag you out, dressed or not."

As the door closed the boys leapt out of bed and made a dash for the bathroom. In the ensuing battle to get though the small door, Harry found himself pressed up against Draco in a not altogether bad way, and once again found himself wishing he didn't have such a Hufflepuff inside him. In fact he wouldn't mind so much if he had a Slytherin inside him. At that point in his train of thought he froze and decided maybe he should just get dressed instead.

Rushing back to his bed he dressed and left the room in record time, impressing Ginny greatly as he burst through the door.

The sight of a table full of coffee and muffins made his morning and he ignored everyone in favour of inhaling some caffeine and sugar. He had a feeling he would need it. He sensed someone approach the table and stand next to him, and he wasn't surprised to find Draco smirking at him.

"You seemed to sprint out of there this morning like a dragon was on your tail, anything wrong Harry?"

Said boy growled quietly, pleased to notice Draco stiffen beside him.

"Nothing is wrong apart from having to get up at this ungodly hour to practice for something I never wanted to do in the first place."

Draco grimaced, "Come off it Potter, this is right up your alley. A chance to be fawned over and gain more admirers, it's a Golden Boy dream surely."

Harry glared at him, "You know Malfoy, after all the time we'd been spending together I thought maybe you had gotten to know me, but you obviously still have no idea of the kind of person I am. I don't know why I bother sometimes, you arrogant, ignorant little shit."

Harry stormed away, leaving a shell shocked Malfoy in his wake. The morning continued with a general sing-a-long in order to get used to the song, before splitting the song up between them and attempting to put a unique twist on it to make it theirs. At lunch time they took a break, Harry making sure to avoid Draco completely, ignoring the sorrowful looks the boy continued sending him. Eventually however, he knew he would need to speak to him, he had no idea what he was doing with this song and he only hoped he would still help him. Taking a deep breath and setting his shoulders, he made his way to where he was sitting.

"Draco, I'm sorry about my outburst earlier, I shouldn't have taken my frustrations out on you", he said quietly, refusing to meet the others gaze.

Draco smiled sadly, "No Harry, I should be the one to say sorry. I know you hate the fame and stuff, I just can't help riling you up, or trying to. I went too far though." Harry nodded and sat down next to him.

"Sooooo", began Draco after a short silence, "Do you still want my help with the song?" Harry smiled gratefully at him, "I would love help, I haven't got a clue, seriously."

The two made their way up to the dorm room where they would have a bit more privacy, and Draco proceeded to help Harry with his verse and the chorus. The song in question was kind of a duet with both male and female vocals. They had split it up fairly between them, however Ginny and Lavender had nearly come to blows over which parts were done by who and which duet partners they'd get. The song included a lot of strings, and seeing as though Draco was also skilled at classical and modern violin, it was decided he would play with the music to add a bit more variety and talent to the mix. He would still be able to do his part with the vocals due to the background music, it would simply add an extra layer to their song.

Harry tried his hardest to concentrate and instil emotion into what he was singing, but under Draco's intense gaze it was proving difficult.

"Okay, how about I sing the female parts and you sing the male parts, we'll go through the whole song, and maybe after that you'll have a better feel for it and we can focus on your individual piece and the harmonies."

Harry did as he said, and if anything, singing to Draco and Draco singing back to him merely made his stomach flutter and his face flush slightly. Thankfully Draco either didn't notice or merely thought it was the effort of singing turning him a nice shade of pink. As Harry watched the emotion flit over Draco's normally shielded face he wondered how he could possibly have thought him emotionless and cold. It was obvious he had a great deal of emotion and passion buried underneath the stoic exterior. As the song ended a silence hovered over the pair until Draco coughed and looked away, shuffling the music sheets in his hands, and Harry refused to acknowledge the bit of hope that blossomed in his heart at the sight of a blush on Draco's cheeks.

_He's probably just over exerted himself, _he thought, and then immediately stamped down on thoughts of how he'd over exert him if he had the chance. He groaned and realised that he had to talk to Ginny or he was going to go mad. Ginny would know what to do, she had to.

"Erm, I need, erm, a drink, yeah, a drink. I'll just go and…erm, do you want one? Yeah I'll go get us some drinks", he stuttered to a confused looking Draco before literally sprinting out of the door.

Scanning the room quickly he found Ginny in a corner practising the song, a bubble of isolation around her. Harry disabled it without a problem and tapped her on the shoulder.

"We need to talk", he said as she took in his flustered demeanour.

Ginny nodded, "Lets go down to the kitchens and get everyone a snack, we'll have privacy down there."

Even though they weren't supposed to leave the tower, Harry knew if he didn't talk to someone soon he would have a nervous breakdown, so he accio'd his cloak and they left in secret. After a couple of narrow escapes with other students, luckily it being a weekend there weren't too many roaming the halls, they made it to the kitchens and sat down as they waited for the elves to put together a snack basket.

"So what's up? I haven't seen you this flustered since you accidentally burst in on Ron and Hermione that time."

Harry shuddered, "Yeah, thanks Gin, that totally cheered me up. No, I need to talk to you about, erm…Draco."

Ginny squealed, "Ooooh, you like him don't you? In a I wanna rock your body kind of way not a lets be friends kind of way?"

Harry stared at her in amazement, "Ginny, I have only just come to terms with thinking I may like him a tiny bit in the romantic kind of way, how the hell did you guess it was about that?"

Ginny looked smug, "I'm a woman Harry, we know these things. Anyway, what are you going to do about it?" she asked.

Harry squirmed uncomfortably, "I don't know, I don't even know if I do really like him like that or if it's just this song that's getting to me, you must admit it's quite apt."

Ginny nodded and grabbed a biscuit from a tray a passing elf was carrying, "It does seem to have your level of angst", she smirked.

Harry shrugged, "I keep looking at him and seeing him in a different light if you know what I mean. Sometimes he just seems to be bursting with passion, and I feel like all I want to do is see how far that passion extends. He looks so damned perfect all the time, and when his shirts crumpled and his sleeves are rolled up, and his hair is all over the place from running his hands through it he still looks damned perfect to me. When he smiles at me without sneering or glaring or anything, it makes my heart ache and I just want to touch him. Every time I see him now I feel like there's a flobberworm in my belly, what the hell is that about?"

Ginny stared open-mouthed, crumbs clinging to her lip, "Harry, how the hell can you not know if you like him? From the sounds of it you bloody love the guy!"

She wiped the crumbs from her lip, "Now when you jump him, make sure you have a camera on you, I think I deserve some smutty photo's in return for my help."

Harry stared, "You haven't given me any help Gin."

Ginny smiled and winked, "Yet, my dear Harry. Just you wait my love, you'll be thanking me profusely soon enough."

Harry groaned and grabbed his cloak standing up, "I feel like I'm going to regret saying anything to you. Come on, before they think we've run off."

Back in the common room they were confronted by an angry Lavender. Ginny just snorted and walked away leaving Harry to bear the brunt of it.

"You two have cost us rehearsal time, I hope you're happy. You'd better be damn good if you think you can swanny off like that!"

Harry rolled his eyes and stared round the room as she continued nagging, he noticed everyone was pretending to ignore them while giggling quietly, Draco was sat by the fire looking unamused. Harry grinned at him and felt his heart ache when he looked away.

Turning to Lavender he snapped, "Shut the fuck up Lav, I'm doing my best, we just thought we'd get some snacks for everyone, it's hard bloody work doing this all day. Just shut up, we'll get the group together and start full rehearsal. Happy?" he asked before slamming the food basket down and walking to the dorm to calm down for a minute.

As he leant on the window sill and stared at the grounds, he heard someone come in behind him. "It's ok Gin, I was just…annoyed. I'll be out in a minute."

He heard someone approach and felt a hand on his shoulder, a hand that felt bigger than Ginny's petite hands. He turned to stare into stormy grey eyes.

"Draco", he murmured, before snapping himself out of it, "I'm sorry we disappeared. We didn't mean to be gone so long", he muttered turning back to the window and leaning his forehead on the cool glass.

Draco squeezed his shoulder, "Ignore the Queen Harpy, she's just a bitch, I'm sorry if I was a bit cold with you out there, I, I just have a lot on my mind right now."

Harry turned back to him, "Don't worry about it Draco, you know if you need to you can talk to me right? Or Gin, she considers you a friend too now you know?"

Draco laughed, "Who'd have thought it, a Malfoy friends with a Potter and a Weasley."

Harry laughed along with him, "Yeah, I'm glad though." They stood in silence for a moment, looking into each others eyes, and for once Harry didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable.

"Come on, before we get dragged out of here."

The rest of the day was spent rehearsing and doing homework, until during their early dinner, a group of witches came through the portrait armed with several shrunken packages.

"Hi, we're wardrobe and make-up", one young woman chirped, "I'm Rosie, this is Mel, and this is Sam", she gestured to the others before looking down at the clipboard she was holding. "Aah, I see you've got the dramatic song, we have costumes to suit the mood to a tee", she grinned.

Harry, Draco and the other boys exchanged nervous glances at the word costumes. They needn't have worried however, it turned out to be a simple fitted white shirt, sleeves rolled up and left un-tucked, and well fitting black trousers with black dragon hide boots. A skinny black tie hung loosely from their necks, and Draco wore a grey waistcoat, Harry a black fedora, and Kevin Entwhistle, a seventh year Ravenclaw, wore a black sweater vest. They each wore black leather cuffs and on the insistence on every girl in the room, they wearily submitted to black eyeliner.

Ginny wore a long black delicate dress with a corseted body and flowing black skirts. Lavender wore a similar dress cut shorter showing off black boots that laced all the way up, and Laura wore the same dress as Ginny but with a gypsy style body with off the shoulder sleeves. They each left their hair loose and slightly tussled, and were coking the smoky eye look complete with a tiny diamante on the edge of each eye. Silver jewellery completed the look.

In all they looked slightly gothic but in a romantic tragedy kind of way. Harry barely noticed the girls however, his eyes were drawn to Draco as he checked his violin, black to match the ensembles, and made sure it was in tune. Harry didn't think he had ever seen anything so beautiful in his life, and only took his eyes away when Ginny viciously nudged him in the ribs.

"Do you want everyone to know how you feel?" she hissed.

Harry blushed, "I didn't mean to, but Merlin Ginny, look at the guy, he's bloody gorgeous!"

Ginny patted him on the arm, "I know Harry, but you have to concentrate, we have to go down to the Great hall now before everyone else arrives, so get your mind out of the clouds, or the gutter, and pull yourself together."

Harry shook himself both physically and mentally and followed the rest of the group out of the common room and to the Great Hall.

Like last time, the room had been kitted out with audience seats and a huge stage. Reporters were already milling about to try and get some behind the scenes pictures and some quotes from participants. Harry avoided them as much as he could, hiding behind Ginny at one point, much to the amusement of a certain blond Slytherin. "Come on Harry, the sooner we get backstage the sooner you stop hiding behind girls", he smirked.

Harry glared at him before half running, half crouching to the backstage area where it was limited to contestants, judges and crew. Remus was stood talking to the other judges in one corner, obviously having been told they couldn't talk to the contestants, and Snape was glowering in a corner, clearly unamused at the antics of several of the contestants. Harry noticed Draco slip away to speak with his fellow housemate Blaise, and he felt a coil of jealousy unwind in his stomach.

Ginny noticed him tense up and followed his gaze, "Oh Harry, stop being such a girl. He's going to talk to other blokes, we haven't even discovered if he's gay yet so calm yourself."

Harry huffed and continued to watch them, his hands tightening into fists as he noticed the pair glance over at him before Blaise wrapped Draco up in a hug. Ginny sighed heavily next to him, "Stop it Harry, you hug Ron all the bloody time, it doesn't mean you're shagging him."

Harry shuddered, "Didn't need that imagery thanks Ginny", he said before wandering off in search of refreshment.

After talking to other classmates, he wandered back to find Ginny, stomach clenching once more as he found her in deep conversation with Draco, their heads close together, seemingly discussing something important. Harry tried to stop the feeling of betrayal as he saw this closeness, and even as he watched the pair hug for what he seemed to think was a long time, he tried to remain calm. Looking away he distracted himself with running through the lyrics in his head, and was startled when Ginny appeared at his side once more.

"You ok Harry?" she asked, noticing his stiff posture.

"Of course Ginny", why wouldn't I be?" he muttered.

Ginny sighed and decided to humour him for the moment, but Harry knew she'd be asking questions later. Before they knew it the Great Hall had filled and the theme music was playing. After the host had finished his introductions, the first group went on stage. Harry's group prepared in the wings as they were due to perform second, and watched nervously as the crowd cheered the group at the end of their song. Once the group had come off stage and the host introduced Harry's group, the lights dimmed.

Harry took his place to the left of Draco and watched Draco play the intro out the corner of his eye while he bowed his head. To his right he heard Ginny start to sing.

"_Would you mind if I hurt you?_

_ Understand that I need to_

_Wish that I had other choices_

_Than to hurt the one I love"_

"_What have you done now_?" he sang along with Ginny as she stepped back slightly to make way for his solo part.

"_I know I'd better stop trying_

_You know that there's no denying _

_I won't show mercy on you now"_

He carried on singing, his voice joined by Lavender's,

"_I know I should stop believing_

_I know that there's no retrieving _

_It's over now What have you done?"_

As a group they sang the chorus_,_

"_What have you done now?" _

"_I, I've been waiting for someone like you_

_ But now you are slipping away... oh_

_What have you done now? _

_Why? Why does Fate make us suffer? _

_There's a curse between us_

_Between me and you"_

Harry and Draco both sang the bridge, staring at each other as they sang,

"_What have you done, what have you done, what have you done, what have you done_

_What have you done now _

_What have you done, what have you done, what have you done, what have you done _

_What have you done now_"

They stepped back slightly to allow Laura and Kevin to continue,

"_Would you mind if I killed you?_

_ Would you mind if I tried to cause you have_

_Turned into my worst enemy_

_You carry hate that I don't feel_

_It's over now"_

"_What have you done?" _Laura finished on her own before the whole group sang once more together.

"_What have you done now?_

_ I, I've been waiting for someone like you_

_ But now you are slipping away... Oh_

_What have you done now? _

_Why? Why does Fate make us suffer?"_

Ginny sang the next two lines solo

_"There's a curse between us _

_Between me and you"_

Harry and Draco sang their part once more,

"_What have you done, what have you done, what have you done, what have you done_

_ What have you done now_

_ What have you done, what have you done, what have you done, what have you done _

_What have you done now" _

An instrumental started up as the girls took turns harmonising along with the strings, and Harry, his body overtaking his mind, stood behind Draco as he played, hands on the blonds hips as they swayed to the music. As the instrumental ended they joined together in singing the next lines.

"_I will not fall _

_Won't let it go_

_We will be free_

_When it ends"_

They sang the final verse as a group,

_"I, I've been waiting for someone like you_

_ But now you are slipping away... oh_

_What have you done now?_

_ Why? Why does Fate make us suffer?_

_ There's a curse between us_

_Between me and you"_

As the music died down and the audience erupted in applause Harry couldn't help but grin at Draco, he loved the look of excitement and pleasure on his face. He jogged over and hugged him tightly before waving at the audience and dragging both him and Ginny off the stage along with the rest of the group. As they came down off their performance high, they watched the other groups perform, clapping and cheering backstage.

"You know I think we deserve a celebration tonight", Ginny said thoughtfully, "We've worked hard all day and we have to do it all again tomorrow."

Harry grinned, "Well it's probably lucky I have a stash hidden away courtesy of Fred and George isn't it?" Ginny whooped and Draco high fived Harry, "We have to be careful with Laura though, she's only a fourth year."

Draco put his arm around Harry's shoulders, "It's ok Red, me and Harry will go grab his stash and pick up some butter beer and party food too, right Harry?" Harry felt his stomach flutter and ignored Ginny's smirk, "Yeah course Draco, come on, the sooner we get it the sooner we can celebrate."

* * *

><p>AN - Hey guys, sorry it's been so late. My son has been keeping me extra busy, and along with work I've been in a creative dry period. It's 3am right now and I should really be in bed but I was on a roll so I figured I should probably just get this done. Longer than my other chapters, I hope you enjoyed it. Will update asap. Let me know of any mistakes you may find, and please review, even if its just to say hi or tell me my story sucks, i dont mind, i dont get out much these days, lol. xx

Oh, the song is by Within Temptation feat. Keith Caputo and it's called What Have You Done. It's an awesome song and I would love to see a fan video done of Harry/Draco slash to this song. I think it's perfect for them so I couldn't resist using it.


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